Young Simon de Montfort and Dante Alighieri

What is the connection between the great Italian poet Dante Alighieri, and the young son of Simon de Montfort? How do the River Thames and Old Winchelsea become a part of the story? What shocking events happened at Viterbo in Italy during Papal High Mass? In Bexhill History Hour David EP Dennis relates the terrible tale of mistaken identity and the gradually degenerating life of Young Simon after the Battle of Evesham in August 1265.

The story of Dante himself also comes to light- how he wrote his great set of Paradise Poems and what happened when he was banished from Florence to live deep in the hills of the Italian Apennines. We also examine how the psychological damage to the mind of Young Simon after seeing his father killed, turned his head to piracy, vengeance and eventual ruin. Using illustrations and photographs, we travel from England and across Europe in our search for the Rivers of Blood and the causes of this tragic series of events.